County to Pay $2.45 Million for PS3 Police Shooting

The PlayStation 3 launch was a dark time for gaming. Robberies, fistfights, and of course, the tragic shooting of 18-year-old college student and suspected PS3 thief Payton Strickland, shot through his door as policeman Christopher Long allegedly mistook the sounds of a battering ram for gunfire. Now a year and three months from the December 1st 2006 shooting, the New Hanover County Sheriff's Office has agreed to a massive settlement with the victim's family, along with a taped apology from Sheriff Sid Causey.

i found my ps3 on that same day, Dec 1, exactly two weeks after the launch.

i went to Circuit City that day hoping to find one. i was told they might have one left in the back and they sent me over to customer service. when the girl came from the back with my 60gb i almost fainted. i had been looking for it for two weeks, going to five or six stores everyday.

when people in the store saw they had a ps3 on the counter, everyone started crowding around and asking if they had anymore in the back.

this dumbass broad that worked there said loudly, while my $900+ in cash was still on the counter, "No we don't have anymore PS3s. He's buying the last one." i have never been that scared making a purchase (a legal one at least) in my life. they had to have security walk me to my car people were looking at me so crazy.

I'm not gonna sit here and get all misty eyed over someone i don't know but for god's sake who the hell raised u to disrespect the dead like that. Before i get slack back for this message imagine the boys mother reading that post thinking "this s.o.b. is joking that my dead sons life is worth a 200" screen TV.

Your pathetic and sad and your bad taste of humor shows your character

I'm sure he was only joking, and doubt he really believes that a 200" screen TV is worth the life of a loved one. Nothing wrong with expressing your disgust at the joke, just keep in mind that he was only joking, ok?

WTF!!! that SOB deserved it! The Kid steals a couple of Ps3's. He then posts pictures of him and his friends with guns on the internet. And then when they raid his house, he ignores, so they're forced to bash the door it. The Police mistakes it for a gunshot, and shoots. Not actually hitting him. But an object it ricochets off of, killing him. And the family gets over two million dollars? WTF?

I go to New Hanover county all the time because of the beach and my cousins live there. The cops their are way outta line. They use drastic measures all of the times when they are unnecssary. Sure this kid deserved to be punished, but there was no need to warrent gun fire.

well they suspects were armed and dangerous.. so im pretty shure they had a warrant to shoot. and think of it from the cops point of view. u think he wasnt worried he might get killed that day? he heard a gunshot so he started shooting randomly and got lucky. lol i guess it works.

well no.. its not because of ebay. its because of people that steal things at gunpoint instead of just waiting in line and paying for it like a normal civilized person. he deserved to die and so do all the rest of the people that steal.

I don't think that paying for something in order to net some profits is bad. Robbing someone of something at gun-point is bad. Would the story have been any different if he and his friends had mugged an elderly couple at gun-point? Different location, different victims, same story. The temptation for greed is always there...it's only a matter of whether you are the type of person to act on it (commit a crime for it).

If my son robbed someone at gun-point and was accidentally killed at a later time, sure I would mourn his death, but I would not hold anything against the cop who knew of the crime (and that he was in possession of a deadly firearm) and shot him accidentally. Hell, if my son was just arrested for such a crime, I would probably beat him to the brink of death myself.

yeah the cop made a huge mistake, but I feel bad for the guy. Coming from a family full of cops, I know the job can make you paranoid. I know my dad has seen crazy $hit, been shot at, and witnessed the worst side of human beings. You don't just walk away from a job like that perfectly fine and without a sense of being paranoid. I mean think about it. Cops get shot all the time just walking up to the car window of a car they pulled over. That's how its possible to mistake the ram noise for gunfire. Yeah, sad about the kid... but don't just make the assumption that the cop gets off scott free. He has to live with that forever.

EDit after reading another article on how the kid helped beat another student just to steal his ps3, I feel even less sorry for the kid. Add the fact that he was seen on the internet posing with guns and the fact that he was probably holding a black controller in his hand,well... the kid was an @sshole.